


Slow

by Keinine



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:57:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keinine/pseuds/Keinine
Summary: Adonis didn’t have any experience with crushes. He just knew what his sisters acted like when they were experiencing them, and he knew of them from what they told him. The feeling he has, however, is far, far different than the happy, fluttery feeling his sisters described. This feeling was more like… running. Adonis knew about running. He knew how it felt when your legs ached and your lungs felt like they were on fire from over-exertion. That’s what this was. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and it wasn’t pleasant.





	Slow

There was always a languid air to Adonis that Koga never quite understood. 

Koga was as subtle as a lit firecracker, always shouting, loud, running here and there. He was messy, impatient; a rule breaker. Some find him irritating. Obnoxious. Volatile. He considered himself a loner, someone with a temper that didn’t need friends. He would be just fine on his own, and if others were intimidated by him then so be it. They didn’t deserve to be his friend anyway.

Adonis was also a loner, though not by choice. He struggles making friends, not being good at talking, and it’s clear he’s thankful for the few he has. People are intimidated by him, yet he doesn’t do anything other than exist. Koga never really understood how that happened, considering most don’t even flinch when Koga is making an effort to to scare people away.

Koga kind of hates that Adonis, a big, gentle guy, is seen as scary when he’s soft.

Koga also hates how that slow, calming air to Adonis dissipates when he’s nervous. No one seems to notice, how Adonis’s features, stoic, change ever so slightly. Koga noticed that Adonis has these habits; slightly furrowed brow, teeth dragging along his bottom lip, pulling, hands tenting together in front of his body. Adonis was a big guy, but somehow he always made himself seem small when he gets like this.

Koga really hated that.

There was a discomfort Koga felt whenever he saw Adonis like that, standing with his shoulders hunched, eyes wandering, trying to find relief. He’s not good with words, often finding himself in situations where they fail him, and he falls into this. Too easily.

Koga often saved the day, swooping in to pull Adonis away, only to scold him afterwards. His words were always lighthearted compared to the scolding he would give to other people. He looks upset, as though this were a hassle, yet he continued to do it. Adonis got too used to this, and mistook it as acts of friendship. Over time, though, Koga couldn’t deny the fact they were friends.

He might have bragged to Leon about it back home once their friendship was established.

Adonis is a guy that’s both good and bad at hiding his emotions. Koga, somehow, is perceptive to both the things he can hide, and, of course, those he can’t. So, when Adonis starts acting weird in what would normally be seen as subtle ways, mainly around Koga, the changes slam into him.

In Koga’s presence, he fidgets. Fingers thread together, held tightly in front of his body. Eyes are downcast. Gentle expression slightly twisted, uncertain. The nervous habits Koga came to hate, because they made Adonis look small. The air around Adonis wasn’t discomfort, but something Koga couldn’t place. And it was obvious he was the cause.

Adonis could trust Koga with anything. He’d said as much in the past during their blooming friendships. Months had passed in which the two relied on one another, Adonis a gentle, silent helping hand. Koga something more viscous, yet there was… a soft spot. Where others would see irritation, Adonis saw support. Adonis almost knew how Koga’s mind worked.

Almost.

All the same, he’s not surprised when Koga confronts him one day after school, Adonis needing to leave for club practice, yet Koga asked they meet in the music club room. He had time, so he did as he was asked, despite the slight edge to his nerves.

Koga didn’t waste time when Adonis entered, waiting just for the door to close before he began to speak. “Yer actin’ all weird,” he’d said, “an’ it’s only when I’m around.”

Adonis saw the way Koga’s hands worked, idly plucking at his guitar strings, as though he didn’t really care for the reason why despite being the one to ask. He was far more subtle than Adonis, yet the way he acted nonchalant made it blaringly obvious.

Despite him coming here willingly, felt Adonis was backed into a corner. Due to this, his hands itched wanting to clasp together in that barrier that felt like false comfort. Koga always told him it was like he was running away. Adonis was good at running, that’s why he was part of the track and field club, but he didn’t want to run. He just didn’t know how to talk about this.

Koga, the epitome of impatience, seemed to give all the patience in the world to Adonis while he waited for this explanation to the unspoken question. He continued to tune his guitar, strumming, plucking, turning.

Adonis didn’t have any experience with crushes. He just knew what his sisters acted like when they were experiencing them, and he knew of them from what they told him. The feeling he has, however, is far, far different than the happy, fluttery feeling his sisters described. This feeling was more like… running. Adonis knew about running. He knew how it felt when your legs ached and your lungs felt like they were on fire from over-exertion. That’s what this was. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and it wasn’t pleasant.

“I’m sorting out some… feelings.” He tries to be delicate, give Koga an answer that’s not untrue, yet not fully explaining anything. But he was too vague.

“Sortin’ out feelings? What feelings are there ta sort out? Are ya upset with me or somethin’-?”

“No.” Adonis betrays himself, answering far too quickly. His hand moves to his wrist, enveloping it, rubbing. The quickness gone, now back to hiding, and Koga looks at him, a brow raised. “I’m not upset with you. This feeling is… the complete opposite. But I’m still thinking it over.”

Koga had the feeling he knew what Adonis meant. He knew, yet he couldn’t fathom the thought that Adonis might… Koga shakes his head, strumming his guitar. “Whatever. Take as long as ya need. Just don’t let it interfere with yer club or rehearsing, ya hear me?”

Adonis would take his time with this. But he also acted like the conversation never happened.

Weeks go by, Koga finding himself to be the one distracted by this. Idly he’d be up in the music room, sitting on a chair and playing chords on his guitar, eyes on the track outside. He finds himself watching Adonis. Which he thinks is stupid. Adonis never brought his feelings up again, and he stopped acting odd around Koga, which means he moved on.

This didn’t bother Koga at all.

Except that it did, and Koga has a really bad habit of lying. But that much is obvious.

But, of course, Koga is mistaken. He is taken by surprise when Adonis approaches him, asking to speak with Koga privately.

Adonis took his time sorting through his feelings, and he did a lot of thinking. It never looked like it to Koga, but it turns out that Adonis’s mind runs as much as he does.

Instead of making himself small, Adonis straightens his back, setting his jaw as his eyes bore into Koga’s. Koga hates to admit it, but he realized why people find Adonis intimidating. Adonis is big, strong, and beautiful. The kind of beautiful that would shake you to your core. He had a gentle disposition, and was often scared of things, anxiety and depression lingering not far behind him.

Adonis Otogari is a man that worked in ways Koga had yet to figure out, yet he tells himself he did because it makes him feel better about the confusion, like he has the upper hand. 

So he had the right to call Adonis his friend.

“Oogami.” Adonis’s voice, strong and low, pulled Koga’s attention to him completely. The air around him was something Koga had felt around Adonis before, yet it was different. It was anxious, yet determined, pushing forward despite the instinct to run. “I like you. Please, go out with me.”

Koga realized that, with a straightened back and a presence that was unable to be ignored, Adonis was stiff. His hands were balled into fists at his side, his face slightly scrunched up, shoulders far too tense. His words were strained, nervous, and Koga doesn’t blame him. This is a first time situation for the both of them, after all.

The longer he takes to answer, the more Adonis’s determination and held-together composure crumbles. His gaze leaves Koga’s, looking down. Defeated.

“... Okay.” Adonis’s gaze lifts again, gentle features giving away to shock as Koga speaks. “I’ll go out with ya. After all, I…” Now it’s Koga’s turn to look down, hand rising to scratch at the back of his head. “I think I’ve liked ya fer a while now… I dunno. This shit is confusin’.”

Koga looks up and his heart nearly stops.

Adonis always seemed to have trouble when it came to smiling, yet the smile Koga was faced with was warm. Nothing like the stiff smile he always seemed to practice.

God, Koga was so confused, and the way his heart was beating and the embarrassment he felt when his face heated with an obvious blush didn’t help anything.

But Adonis just laughed. Softly, calming any tense air.

“That’s alright, Oogami. We can take it slow.”

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift to Van, someone who is far more important to me than I am able to express. He has gotten me through a lot of hardships and pushes me to better myself and my work. I don't know where I would be without him.
> 
> Also super not beta read at all because I wrote it in the span of... ~10 hours to get it to him on time. Well, 10 hours including distractions. I think 4 of those 10 hours were actually spent writing. 
> 
> There will probably be a sequel to this some time in the future.
> 
> Feel free to contact me **[over on my Twitter](https://twitter.com/KElNlNE)** or **[Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/ofdokei)**.


End file.
